Car-coupling.



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CAR`COUPLING. APPLICATIN FILED JAN. 2. 1913. mww. Patented me. 5, 1916.

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W. S. KNISELY. CAR couPuNGt APPLICATION FxLEn 1AN.2. |913.

LT/ r Patented Dec. 5,1916.

2 SHEETS-SH WILLIAM S. KNISELY, F CHICAGO HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS.

CAR-COUPLING'.

Specification of Letters Patent.

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Application filed January 2, 1913. Serial No. 739,582.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. KNIsnLY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago Heights, in the county of Cookand State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Car-Couplings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to car couplers and is in certain parts an improvement upon the device of my United States patent application Serial Number 735,191.

The object of the invention is to provide a coupler of the class described in which the coupler body is self adjusting with reference to the draw bar to which it is attached sothat a proper alinement of the coupler and draw bar will be automatically maintained or restored when once temporarily distorted or destroyed; to provide a novel form of locking of the parts of a coupler together so that the pin which locksthem 1s supported at two points on opposite sides of the member which pulls against the pin, thereby giving the locking a positiveness not heretofore possible, and greatly reducing and preventing wear and so forth.

rIhe invention also consists in a novel form of mounting for the devices through which the coupling of the gas pipes, (air, steam, etc.,) is made so as to allow for a limited movement of the coupled cars with reference to each other without breaking the coupling of these parts.

The invention consists in a device which can be easily and cheaply made and installed, which is satisfactory in operation and is n ot readily liable to get out of order, and 1n one having the further features and constructions hereafter fully described and finally claimed. n

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional plan view of two couplers illustrating this invention in their preferred form, coupled together. Fig. 2 is a side view of the parts illustrated in Fig. 1 in uncoupled position. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional detail view o f two couplers connected together in the position of Fig. 1, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a corresponding view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a plan view taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2.

Each coupler includes in its broadest terms an externally smooth and substantially imperforate body or ,housingY member having in one half of its face or end, which is to engage another coupler, a recess 12 and on its other half a projecting lug 14. The lug 14 of each housing being adapted to enter the recess 12 in the opposite coupler and be detachably secured therein by a pin 16 which enters a vertical opening 18 provided for the purpose.

As in my above mentioned prior application, a Janney knuckle 20 is formed in and pivoted to lug 14 by means of a pin 22. The swinging arm 24 of the Janney knuckle is movable into a recess 26 formed in the coupler body and is detachably secured therein in the position shown in Fig. 1 by the use of a pin 28 entering the coupler through a suitably formed opening. When a regular Janney coupler knuckle (not here shown) is coupled to the present device, said Janney knuckle enters the curved opening or recess 30 formed between the knuckle 2O and the body of the coupler here shown. In the device here illustrated this opening or recess 30 is locatedat a substantial distance, say about two inches from the face 31 of the coupler which is to engage the opposite coupler. rIhis distance just mentioned should be sufficient so that when an unusually deep Janney coupler is connected to this device in the manner described, said Janney coupler is held entirely clear of and away from engagement with the gas pipe coupling devices, one form of which is shown in said prior application and another form of which is here shown and will be hereafter described. Assuming that a Janney coupler were thus attached in the manner described, the Janney coupler could be used without removing the pin 23 from the coupler here shown, but as this is not always convenient, it is as stated in the above prior application, desirable to have the Janney knuckle 20 pivoted at 22 and releasable as described, through the removal of the pin 16, and this is best accomplished by providing over the top of the coupler a link strap or bar 32 having one end formed with a key head 33 slidable up and down in a slot 35 in the pin 16. This strap 32 passes under a pin 34 'on the adjacent vertical pin 28 so that when the bar 32 is lifted through the agency of a chain device, not shown, connected to lug 36, both pins 16 and 28 are withdrawn, as shown in Fig. 3, all as more fully described in said prior application. As in the prior device, the Vcoupler proper 10 is pivotally connected to the draw bar 38 by means of a vertical pin 40 passingvthrough an elongated slot 42 in a -lug 44 extending from the draw bar proper, the lug entering a recess 46 formed in the end of the coupler and being pressed upward by a. spring 48.

The' parts thus far described are, except as hereafter noted, substantially those of my prior application and all claims for novelty thereon are reserved for said application.

,In orderA to cause the coupler body and draw bar to be automatically maintained in alinementiwith each other the top of each lug 44 is provided with a cam surface 50 vwhich in the particular case here illustrated is, asV clearly shown in Fig. 4, the arc of a circle in cross section of the lug, and when the parts are in normal position this curved surface lits into a corresponding recess 52 at the top of the recess 46 in the housing 10 heretofore described, and is held in that position bythe spring 48. When now, through any agency, the coupler body is moved out of alinement with this lug 44, said movement is accomplished by moving the cam surface 50 in a rotary direction upon the surface 52, which motion can only be accomplished by compressing spring 46, and the surfaces lare so shaped in proportion with referenceto each other that whenever the distorting means is removed the spring in combination with these surfaces 50 and 52 tends Vto andV ultimately does restore the parts to the alined position.

Y In order that when two coupler faces 31 are brought together in coupled position, shown in Fig. 1, they may be readily maintained in that position, it is highly importanty that the coupling pin which secures them inV coupled position be very rigidly and strongly secured in position. It is also necessary at the same time that the coupling of the device by the use of such pin be very readily accomplished and that when the pin is finally to be withdrawn it be readily accomplished without any of the difficulty which occurs or may occur when a wedge device is used. To this end the mechanism about to be described is provided.

' As Vheretofore noted, the member 20 is coupled withinV the opening 12 in the body v10V ofv the opposite adjacent coupler by means of a vertically movable pin 16 passing through an opening 18 in the coupler body.- J ust inside of the opening 12 in the plane of the pin 16 extending parallel to the central axis of the coupler is cast or other- Wise rigidlyV secured a lug 54 of suchV a length that, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the bottom or entering end of the lowered pin 16 engages Vit and any pull to the left in Fig,2 against the pin rwill be exerted against and resisted by thisl lug. The pin 16 is, however, free to move up and down within the limits defined by a longitudinal slot 56 therein in which another small lug 58 upon the outer wall 59 of the coupler enters.

In constructing the device the opening 18 is made with an inclined face 60 so that as the pin 16 is inserted it may be slipped diagonally through the enlarged opening 18 and thence over the lug 58. After the member 32 with head 33 thereon is connected to the pin in the manner shown in Fig. 3, such lateral movement of the pin 16 is prevented; in other words, there is no danger of the pin 16 being disengaged from lug 58. 1n order to provide for the automatic elevating of the pin 16 as the opposite member 14 enters the particular coupler and for the automatic locking of the parts together when the faces 31 are brought together the outer face of the member 14 is cut in such a manner that a latch block or lug 62 is formed thereon having an inclined face 64 and a vertical face 66 opposite to a face 68, there being between the faces 66 and 68 a space 70 which, when the parts are coupled together registers with opening 1S, heretofore described, and receives pin 16, with the result that when the pin 16 is in lowered position, i. e. that of the dotted lines of Fig. 2, and the devices are coupled, as shown in Fig. 1, the face 66 of the latch block 62 bears against the right hand side of the pin 16 and thus communicates to it the pulling strain tending to separate the two couplers.

As clearly appears in Fig. 3, the width of the pin 16 is greater than the width of the lug 54. The horizontal face 64 of the lug 62 is made of substantially the same width as the pin; that is to say, wider than the lug 54 and the lower portion of this latch block 62 is cut off on the line 72 so as to form a horizontal recess or slot 74 into which the lug 54 in the opposite coupler passes as the parts are coupled together. The horizontal width of this slot 74, just described, is only fractionally greater than the width of the lug 54, with the result that a relatively narrow inclined cam face 76 is provided of suficient length and depth so that, as will clearly appear by considering Fig. 2, it, as the two couplers are brought together, engages the lower corner of the pin 16 thereby causing that pin to travel, first, up the relatively narrow face 76 just described, thence along the broader inclined face 64 of lug 67 and finally drop into the space 70, heretofore described, in which position the face 66 of the lug 62 bears against the approximate middle of the pin 16 which is supported at one end by the upper wall of the body of the coupler and at the other end byl lug 54 thereby eii'ectually supporting the pin and thus reducing to a minimum the danger of the pin bending, or wedging, and reducing the wear thereon, thus in great measure avoiding the possibility of the coupler faces 81 accidentally and unintentionally separating one from the other, until such time as the pin 16 is wholly removed by lifting upon member 32 in the manner described.

While the foregoing device has been provided for the purpose of preventing play of one coupler body with reference to the other, it is desirable to also provide means for so coupling the pipes which carry compressed air, steam, and any other gases or liquids from one car to another, that even if play of the main coupler bodies does talfc place these gas coupling devices will not be uncoupled and to, at the same time, so mount these gas pipe coupling devices upon the main couplers that when the two couplers are connected together these devices will also be automatically coupled one to the other.

ln my said prior application l provided attached to the coupler a pair of chambers and valve devices for effecting the coupling, which devices being there claimed are not here shown in detail. In the present invention these chambers 78 are not as in the prior application rigidly attached to the coupler body 10 but are secured thereto in such a. manner that they have a movement within limits longitudinally of the coupler, which allows them to remain coupled to each other until such time as the two couplers in the act of separating move away from each other more than a predetermined amount. At the same time the movement of the memberl 7 8 is so limited in the opposite direction that when the couplers are brought together they are in the proper position for 'automatic coupling. These results are attained in the particular case here illustrated by providing at the forward end of the housing 78 a tongue 80 adapted to slide in a suitable groove 82 and by providing at the rear of the housing a tail piece 84 within which is an elongated slot 86 through which a suitable bolt 88 entering the under side of the coupler body passes. 'liese bolts 88 and slots 8G are so arranged with reference to each other that when the parts are in the position shown in Figs. 2 and 5 the front faces 90 of the housings are in close proximity to each other and the valve plunger 92 will automatically work, and the length of the slots 86 is such that assuming that two opposite housings are detachably locked together they may move in that locked position with reference to the couplers a distance equal to the sum of the lengths of travel of the screws 88 within their respective slots 86. Devices for thus detachably securing the housings 78 together may, for instance, consist in a pair of springs 94, one extending from one side of each housing and detachably engaging a lug or latch member 96 on the opposite housing, with the result that when the two housings are thus snapped together, as shown in Fig. 5, they7 are held by the devices 94 with suiicient rigidity so that they do not readily pull apart, but that when actual uncoupling takes place each spring 94 will readily snap off from its adjacent lug or locking device 96. rlhe housings 78 are each connected tothe train pipes by hose connectors.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. ln a device of the class described, the combination of two members to be coupled, one of them having an opening therein within which the opposite member may enter, a lug 54 on the inside of the first mentioned member movable in a recess 74 in said second mentioned member, a locking pin of greater width than the lug 54 movable through the recess in the rst member of the coupler and into engagement with the lug 54, and a lug 62 on the entering member of substantially the same width as the locking member and having formed therewith a cam track 64-7 4 adapted to, as the parts are brought together, elevate the locking pin from its locked position behind the lug 54 to a position where it can drop into a slot 70 back of the lug 62 and thence to locked position, for the purposes set forth.

2. In a coupler, a body member and a lug projecting from said body, there being a notch in said lug adapted to receive another coupler and hold it away from the body of the coupler, for the purposes set forth.

3. In a coupler, a body member and a lug projecting from the forward end of the body member toward another coupler to be attached thereto, there being a notch in said lug' intermediate between its end and said body member adapted to receive a portion of an opposing coupler and hold it away from the body of the coupler for the purposes set forth.

In witness whereof, l have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM S. KNISELY.

`Witnesses D wIGI-I'r B. Crrnnvnn, MAX S. RosENZwEIG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

Washington. D. C. 

